With the names Shane Black, Robert Downey Jnr, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley and Gwyneth Paltrow already confirmed, IronMan 3 is beginning to sound pretty awesome already. And now two more bona fide film stars have also been rumoured to join the above cast with Guy Pearce and Jessica Chastain looking set to sign up.

Guy Pearce looks to be cast as geneticist Aldrich Killian with the film poised to be loosely based on Warren Ellis’ Extremis series, where nanotechnology is explored. Tony Stark uses this new technology to improve his iron suit but when a virus strikes it down he loses most of his prowess.

Killian is the genetic scientist who creates the Extremis virus that threatens the nanobot technology and of course he becomes friendly with a group of terrorist for good measure.

Chastain is also rumoured to be playing one of the scientists, with speculation rife that it could be Dr. Maya Hansen another of the co-creators of Extremis. And with Ben Kingsley already confirmed as the main villain of the film it seems like Downey Jnr will have his hands full attempting to battle all of these names.

The films director Shane Black will also have a job on his hands keeping each member of the talent pleased with their screen time. Good luck with that Mr. Black.